KRAMER TURNING
PAGE ON BAD YEAR

Healthy again, USD big man playing well

Aztecs at Toreros

Thursday: 8 p.m. at Jenny Craig Pavilion

On the air: FSSD; 1700-AM

Dennis Kramer wanted nothing to do with the subject, about what last season was like for USD’s 6-foot-11 forward.

What was it like — after scoring 10.4 points per game in conference play as a sophomore to lift expectations — to suffer a hip injury before his junior campaign, causing him to lose confidence, lose minutes, and languish on the bench, his scoring cut by more than half?

Last season, what was it like?

“I can’t even …”

He pauses.

“I kind of got that out of my head, put it behind me,” said Kramer, sitting courtside at the Jenny Craig Pavilion after practice Tuesday morning. “It’s one of those things I don’t like to look back at. Basically, I have no positive memories of that.”

The Toreros are off to a promising 7-2 start, and the buzz in town is about Thursday’s matchup with the beast a few miles down Interstate 8, 24th-ranked San Diego State.

Born in Germany, a product of La Costa Canyon High, Kramer is 0-for-3 against the Aztecs. SDSU is riding a seven-game winning streak in the series.

“Gonna have to break that one,” Kramer said.

But Aztecs-Toreros is only one night. While an upset would bring instant credibility, USD is thinking bigger — like trying to fashion its first winning season since that magical postseason run in 2008.

The key to a turn-around?

“As I’ve said throughout the offseason and into the fall, I think Dennis is probably the biggest key in terms of consistency of play and owning a scoring presence inside,” USD coach Bill Grier said.

So far, Kramer has delivered. He’s averaging 10 points per game, fourth on the team. He’s averaging 6.3 rebounds, best on the team.

“It speaks volumes about his character, his mental toughness coming back from last year,” assistant coach Mike Burns said.

About last year. Kramer suffered a strained hip flexor a couple of weeks before the season started.

“It felt like somebody was … stabbing it with a knife,” he said.

He struggled, then strained his right wrist, then struggled some more, averaging 1.7 points during a 14-game skid. Late his sophomore season, Kramer had registered points-rebounds games totaling 15/8, 17/9 and 22/11.

“The ball wasn’t going in, he lost a lot of confidence, it started being a thing where he put too much pressure on himself,” Grier said. “He was missing dunks and all kinds of things.”

How did Kramer pull an about-face?

“Getting away from here helped me out a little bit,” he said.

After the spring semester last May, Kramer left for Germany and Russia, where he played for Germany in the World University Games. He averaged 4.9 points in eight games, including scoring 16 points in 25 minutes during a 123-32 rout of Oman.

Part of the psychological rehab entailed simply returning to his homeland. Kramer was raised in Cologne, and his maternal grandparents still live in Germany. He moved to San Diego when he was 11.

Asked what he likes about his homeland, Kramer said, “I don’t know how to explain it. Just going home. There’s a lot of greenery, good food. My family.”

Because he can step outside the paint and hit 3-pointers, Kramer has been labeled soft for a 6-11 player. Burns bristles at the tag.

“He’s anything but soft,” Burns said. “The fact he has the ability to step out, knock down perimeter shots, occasionally people confuse that skill with a lack of desire to mix it up inside.”

Said Grier: “If only people knew how hard this kid works and how hard he grinds.”

Added 6-9 teammate Jito Kok: “He competes his ass off every day in practice. He works hard in the weight room. He is not soft.”